Aleiodes aquilonius, Shaw, Scott R., Marsh, Paul M. & Fortier, Joseph C., 2006

Shaw, Scott R., Marsh, Paul M. & Fortier, Joseph C., 2006, Revision of Nearctic Aleiodes Wesmael (Part 8): the coxalis (Spinola) Species­Group (Hymenoptera: Braconidae, Rogadinae), Zootaxa 1314, pp. 1-30 : 3-4

Aleiodes coxalis species­group

Included species. coxalis (Spinola) 1808 , Europe; bicolor (Spinola) 1808 , Europe; signatus (Nees) 1812, Europe; alternator (Nees) 1834 , Europe; tristis Wesmael 1838 , Europe; aciculatus Cresson 1869 , North America; sanctihyacinthi ( Provancher) 1880 , North America, introduced into Europe; arcticus (Thomson) 1891 , Europe; incertus (Kokoujev) 1898 , Eastern Europe; jakolewi (Kokoujev) 1898 , Eastern Europe; coxator (Telenga) 1941 , Eastern Europe; incertoides (Telenga) 1941 , Siberia; satanus (Telenga) 1941 , Mongolia; nunbergi (Noskiewicz) 1956 , Europe; negativus (Tobias) 1961 , Eastern Europe; hellenicus (Papp) 1985 , Europe; moldavicus (Tobias) 1986 , Eastern Europe; itamevorus Shaw and Marsh 2004 ; maritimus Shaw and Marsh 2004 ; aquilonius new species; brevis new species; cultrarius new species; dichromatus new species; floridensis new species; quadratus new species; shenefelti new species; whartoni new species; wyomingensis new species.

Diagnostic characters. Hind wing vein RS sinuate, marginal cell narrowest in middle; ocelli small, diameter of lateral ocellus less than ocell­ocular distance; vertex usually transversely rugose; fourth metasomal tergum usually sculptured, sometimes metasomal terga 1–4 partially carapace­like.

Comments. The species in this group all have the fourth metasomal tergum sculptured, a few being coriaceous but most being rugose or costate at least on basal half. In a few cases the first four terga are carapace­like and similar to the “genus” Tetrasphaeropyx Ashmead. A previous phylogenetic study concluded that Tetrasphaeropyx is merely a distinctive lineage derived from within the A. coxalis species­group, although it has not yet been formally synonymized under Aleiodes . Tetrasphaeropyx is now known to be a highly diverse lineage with many currently undescribed species. One of us (JCF) is currently revising the Tetrasphaeropyx lineage, so we will leave it to him to decide on the usage of the name.